Lemonstar's Sickness
by Ravenwhisper's Wish
Summary: Lemonice's life takes an awful turn when a stranger enters her Clan. I do not own warrior cats.
1. Chapter 1

The slim, grey warrior paced outside the nursery, green eyes never leaving the entrance. Hoarse wails of pain reached his ears, half-deafening him. His pulse never slowed as Morningblossom's cries began to quieten, joined by a smaller whine. His heart leapt as Doepaw emerged from the entrance, ears flickering anxiously. A small bundle of fur was clasped in her jaws but the grief in her eyes did not correspond with Vinepatch's hopes.

"What is it?" he exclaimed, leaping forward. "What happened?" Doepaw bowed her head to place his kit at his paws. He leant to sniff it, frowning. Outstretching a paw, he rolled it over and pressed his foot to its chest. "Its dead," he murmured.

"Dead," Doepaw echoed, turning away as Morningblossom shrieked from the den. "Sagestride says there is one more to come." Vinepatch pressed his nose to the still kit's chest and followed the medicine cat apprentice inside, gently moving his dead child in with them.

"Vinepatch," Morningblossom gasped, eyes crazed with fear. "He died, the smallest one, he was so small, so small…" She trailed off as Sagestride nudged two more kittens towards her belly, swollen with milk for them to nurse. "So small," she whispered one more time, before burying her muzzle in her paws.

Her mate curled around her, gently soothing her pain with small, controlled licks to the ears. Sagestride nestled the dead kit next to his sisters, and herded Doepaw out of the den. Vinepatch pressed his flank against Morningblossom's, as the two molly kits, one calico-and-white, one a golden tabby, mewled and kneaded their mother's side. The tomkit was a mirror image of Vinepatch.

"What shall we name them?" Vinepatch whispered.

"Seedkit," Morningblossom said flatly. "His name will be Seedkit."

Vinepatch winced involuntarily, curling his tail up. "Her name is Lemonkit," he meowed, moving to stand beside the sisters. He gestured to the first kit, the long-haired calico. "And hers Honeykit." The tabby craned her neck towards the voice, as though already recognizing her name. He smoothed her still-damp fur with his rough tongue, a purr rumbling through the nursery.

Lemonkit exhaled sharply as a dead weight landed on her back. "Honeykit!" she exclaimed, twisting underneath her sister's wide-set paws. "Get off!"

Honeykit grinned, her short, blunt claws digging into her sister's tangled fur. "Die, ClimbingClan scum!" She lashed her thin tail in faux anger, bright blue eyes flashing. The three moon old duo's eyes still hadn't changed from kit blue to the eventual colours they would be.

"You're the ClimbingClan scum," mewed Lemonkit, squeezing out from her grasp, "and I'm the noble ThicketClan warrior, protecting our camp!" She spun around and bared her small teeth at Honeykit, who arched her back in reply.

"Yeah, right! You'd make a far better ClimbingClan cat!" Honeykit grinned mischievously, giving her slick fur a quick lick. "The thorns would get caught in your fur," she teased.

"Well, you'd be good at climbing! Like _Climbing_Clan," Lemonkit returned swiftly. Her fluffy tail whipped from side to side as she crept towards her littermate, eyes narrowing. Honeykit paused, and feinted to one side, but it was too late. Lemonkit had pounced, and soon had her sister flat on her back in the dust. "Hah!"

"Girls, girls, girls," a gentle voice cut through their play. Both kits spun around to be faced with a lithe grey-and-white tom. Their father's warm green gaze met with each of theirs in turn. "Don't roughhouse around the elders' den," he chastised. "Instead, why don't you go fetch them some prey… and maybe they'll entertain you with a story?" Both of his children lit up at this suggestion, and they charged towards the fresh-kill pile, neck and neck.

"I want the biggest piece!" Lemonkit screeched, before Honeykit bowled her over.

"Don't forget the elders," Vinepatch called after them, amusement shimmering in his eyes. Embarrassed, Lemonkit selected a plump squirrel and trotted towards the elders' den, followed by Honeykit, who had chosen, with obvious misjudgement, a huge hare.

"Oh, is that for me?" Ebonysnout purred as Lemonkit dumped the fresh-kill at their paws. Honeykit barrelled in after her littermate, and threw her hare towards Maplefur, who accepted the prey with a smile and began to share it with her den mate, Lichentail.

"Yup. Tell us a story," Lemonkit demanded, sitting down expectantly.

Ebonysnout huffed, burying their muzzle in the squirrel. Scents rolled through Lemonkit's mouth as she fidgeted impatiently. "In my day, we'd have to use please and thank you if we wanted a story," Ebonysnout remarked, wolfing down half the prey.

Honeykit swivelled towards the wiry black elder, ears pricked. "Please and thank you, tell us a story!" she gabbled. Lichentail snorted in disbelief and Maplefur rolled her eyes.

"You asked for that one," Maplefur told Ebonysnout. "C'mon, kits, I'll tell you a story." She straightened up, leaving the rest of the rabbit for Lichentail, and gathered them around her. "Anybody else coming to listen?" she asked them, and Lemonkit shrugged. Maplefur pressed on, "Greykit? Sweetkit?"

Honeykit leapt up with a grin. "I'll go get them!" Lemonkit stifled a yawn at her sister's endless obsession with Greykit, the two were almost closer friends than she herself was with Honeykit.

Lemonkit stretched out on the mossy floor of the elders' den as Honeykit disappeared. She ignored the high-pitched squeals of the other kits from outside and closed her eyes. Maplefur coughed as Honeykit returned with the brother and sister Greykit and Sweetkit, and Lemonkit grumbled to herself, sitting up and staring at Maplefur. The four kits settled down and were quiet as the tortoishell elder began.

"Before any of you were born," she meowed, "before any of us were born… there was no ThicketClan, ClimbingClan, or DareClan. There were no forests, moors, or rivers. There was only," she paused ominously, "wind."

"Wind?" Sweetkit objected. "How can there be wind without a moor?"

"The wind never used to come from a moor. It came from the air, and only the air." Maplefur scanned the kittens and narrowed her eyes. "But then, something was formed from the wind. A huge cat. A wind lion… a cloud tiger!" The kit's eyes widened in unison as she continued. "This cat was made from the sky… and took his place on earth as _Skye_, a kittypet. Yes, I know. A kittypet. But this cat grew to found ThicketClan, a long, long time ago."

"And so that proves," said Lemonkit in unison with the bony elder, "that anybody can do anything, no matter where they came from."


	2. Chapter 2

The moon crept towards the peak of the sky. The moonlight struck Lemonkit's face as she turned her green gaze towards the streak of glowing white in the sky. It was a clearly defined crescent of a moon, curving in the dark sky like a claw.

Shadowed forms flitted across the camp clearing, as the evening patrol returned with Moonhigh. Lemonkit's ears pricked hopefully as Haystar leapt onto the HighThorns, and she followed the rest of her Clan to gather underneath the stump. Her sister skidded to a stop next to her, flanked by their parents. Greykit and Sweetkit planted themselves near them, their two mothers settling next to them.

"Lemonkit, step up." The voice cut into Lemonkit's thoughts and she jerked upright, springing onto the huge root in front of her. Thorns pressed against her long fur, but she ignored them and eagerly turned her muzzle towards Haystar.

"Lemonkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed," the lithe leader announced. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lemonpaw. Your mentor will be Cloudberry. I hope Cloudberry will pass down all they know on to you." Lemonkit craned her neck round to catch a glimpse of the grey warrior padding forwards. The warm look on their face sent a ray of pleasure into Lemonpaw, glad she had a kind mentor.

"Cloudberry, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Goldwhisker and you have shown yourself to be brave and energetic. You will be the mentor of Lemonpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Haystar stepped back for the two cats to touch noses and the newly named Lemonpaw pressed her muzzle to Cloudberry's.

"Honeykit, step up." Lemonpaw scrambled away and sat down again as her ginger sister padded forward. "Honeykit, you too have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to be apprenticed," Haystar boomed. Honeykit leant forwards eagerly, and Lemonpaw smiled excitedly for her sister. "From this day onwards until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Honeypaw. Your mentor will be Raccoonpounce. I hope Raccoonpounce will pass down all she knows to you." The black and white molly padded forwards and took her place next to Honeypaw, standing stiffly and without a smile.

"Raccoonpounce, it has long been time for you to be a mentor. Although not born or trained within our Clan, you have shown yourself to be a valuable asset and both honest and sensible. You will be the mentor of Honeypaw and I expect you to pass down all you know to her." Honeypaw spun around and thrust her nose in the air. Her mentor touched noses lightly with her, and Lemonpaw felt thankful her own mentor was more enthusiastic. Poor Honeypaw!

Morningblossom gestured silently for Honeypaw to return next to her, and Lemonpaw zoned out slightly from the rest of the meeting: who cared about Greykit or Sweetkit's ceremonies anyway? She jolted awake as her father nudged her and she turned to face her parents. Honeypaw was heading proudly towards the apprentice den – and Greypaw – but Lemonpaw grinned at Morningblossom and Vinepatch.

"I'm so excited to be an apprentice!" she crowed. "I'll finally be able to hunt, and fight and patrol and climb and… Mum! You can come hunting with us now you don't have to stay in the nursery!" Her eyes shone with pleasure, but soon dimmed when her mother's face fell.

"I can't," she whispered. "I need more time to recover. Six moons is not enough."

Lemonpaw frowned. "Why?"

Morningblossom's ears flattened as she went on. "I'm sorry. S-Seedkit died," she mumbled, choking on the words.

"So? We never even knew him," Lemonpaw pointed out. But Morningblossom scrunched up her face in distress.

"That's the whole point," Vinepatch murmured, breaking into the conversation and pressing against his mate's side. "We wish we had been able to know him. Your mother… hasn't been able to let that go yet." Tension sparked between the two warriors, and Lemonpaw hunched her shoulders in confusion.

"Oh," she muttered. "Okay."

"Lemonpaw!" Honeypaw called from across the camp. "Come and get your nest next to mine!"

Her sister's eager face snapped Lemonpaw out of it, and she pelted over to her. Crouching down, she squeezed into the bush that formed the apprentices' den. Honeypaw followed her in and hurried over to the nest she'd claimed. It was close to the edge, as new apprentices' usually were, but looked warm. Lemonpaw went for the most obvious one, a comfortable-looking mossy nest next to her sister's, only to be met with the sharp scent of Greypaw.

"Sorry… I said he could have that one," Honeypaw mewed sheepishly. Lemonpaw rolled her eyes and settled on the one behind Honeypaw, still nice, but right up against the den wall. The breeze would make her cold all night.

_Stupid Greypaw,_ she thought, but she was so tired, it didn't seem to matter that much. She sank into the bracken and rested her chin on her paws. Honeypaw too was settling down, and although the scents in the cramped den told her Greypaw and his sister were sharing a fish, they'd soon get to sleep as well. Lemonpaw yawned and tucked her tail around her flank, dreaming of the big day she'd have tomorrow: her first as a 'paw!

Rain, rain, and only rain. "Mousedung," Lemonpaw hissed, crawling away from the puddle her nest had become. "Seriously, Greypaw," she grumbled, staring at him, a ball of grey-and-white fluff, snoring. How Honeypaw had been able to sleep with that in her ear was beyond Lemonpaw.

To her surprise, it already seemed to be dawn: Reedpaw, Brookpaw and Pebblepaw, the oldest apprentices, were already gone and Evergreenstripe was just sending out the last patrol. Cloudberry spotted her tabby face peeking from the den and beckoned her over.

She slunk through the rain, usually fluffy fur soon flattened against her bones, and over to her mentor. "Yeah? Don't tell me we're going to train in this awful weather?"

"I know it's not the best," meowed Cloudberry, shaking raindrops of their whiskers, "but don't you want to get started?"

Lemonpaw let a smile grow on her face and she nodded. "Alright, I guess I do. Should I wake Honeypaw?"

"No, I think Raccoonpounce has other plans for her today. Involving the elders and fleas. All apprentices have to take their turns, you will too." Pausing, they glanced towards Branchfur. "Although, we could always take Greypaw! It'll be good for him to spend some time in the forest. He never seems to wake up," they chuckled.

Lemonpaw rolled her eyes. "He really doesn't," she agreed, before heading back to the den. "Hey, hedgehog!" she yelled, poking her head inside. "Wake up." Greypaw didn't move, though Honeypaw stirred and yawned. Sweetpaw however was immediately alert, eyes wide and nervous. "Not you," Lemonpaw told her. "Wake your brother up."

Sweetpaw shrugged. "Okay." She leant close to the slumbering Greypaw and hissed in his ear, "Wake up! There's a badger in the camp!"

Greypaw jolted upward and glared around the den. "Why are you waking me up?" he snapped. "I don't see no badger."

"That's a double negative," Sweetpaw pointed out, and Lemonpaw snorted with amusement as Greypaw pawed at her.

"Cloudberry wanted you to join us in the forest, worst luck," Lemonpaw explained and stalked out of the den. Greypaw sloped after her, belly giving an insistent grumble as he followed her to Cloudberry and Branchfur.

"We're going to be doing hunting training," Cloudberry told the two apprentices. "When its raining hard, worms come out of the ground-"

"We aren't hunting worms, are we?" Lemonpaw interrupted, sticking out her tongue.

"-and birds will come down to eat them. We'll be hunting birds today, but don't be upset if you catch nothing: birds are one of the hardest prey to catch."

"If its raining, can't we catch fish? We'll already be wet," Greypaw grumbled. Lemonpaw sighed. She hated fish.

Branchfur stared hard at his apprentice. "Never go hunting fish when its this wet. The river waters are already higher than usual because of the leaf-bare snows melting. Do you want to drown, Greypaw?"

Greypaw meekly shook his head, making Lemonpaw smile to herself. "You already look like a drowned rat," she teased Greypaw, who stuck his nose in the air and flounced after his mentor.

Lemonpaw bounded after them, paws spraying water drops into the air. The busy sounds of an awakening Clan faded out of her consciousness as she threw herself into the forest. Wet, slippery leaves lay under her feet, and new green ones grew on the trees towering above the training patrol. Cloudberry led them to a wide stretch of grass left of the camp, and Lemonpaw was careful not to make a sound: unlike Greypaw, whose lashing tail made raindrops spray over the earth.

"Shh," Branchfur muttered, stopping them at the edge of what Lemonpaw realized must be the moor. "There, see?" A small brown bird was perched on a gorse bush, beady eyes glued on the earth. Suddenly, with a flurry of wings, it dived and was soon tugging at something – a worm? – in the ground.

Cloudberry slid forwards, belly just above the ground, and pushed off with their hind legs. Lemonpaw's eyes widened as they practically flew through the air. Then it was all over as they hit the ground and rolled over, bird clutched in their claws. It let out several calls before they killed it and returned to the group.

"That was a faulty catch," they gasped, dropping the sparrow in front of Lemonpaw. "We won't find anything else here now its raised the alarm. Let's get going."

As Lemonpaw followed her mentor, she couldn't help feeling a rush of exhilaration at the idea of catching her own prey.


End file.
